


Sleeping With a Skeleton

by TwinVax



Series: Little Moments [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Conversation, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Other, Scene Rewrite, ep 13 spoilers, magic talk, serious conversations before bed are their norm, these people dont trust, they get sassy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinVax/pseuds/TwinVax
Summary: Caleb identifies some objects, and talks shit with Nott, in the basement of the Leaky Tap. There is also a skeleton there.





	Sleeping With a Skeleton

**Author's Note:**

> A written scene directly from the show. I definitely don't have the ability to write the whole campaign as one large story, but snippets are enjoyable. Episode 13.

Caleb spent the time alone in the basement looking between the object of some mysterious magical property and the suspiciously hidden skeleton. He did not spend much time considering either for very long before Nott stormed through the door, looking antagonized and irritated. 

He could, perhaps, thank their new companions for that. He had no inkling as to what conversation transpired upstairs, but he could hazard a guess as to it having involved him in some way, “How’d it go up there?” he asked once she stopped in front of him. 

She rifled through her cloak instead of answered and pushed a familiar scroll case into his arms, “I stole this fucking scroll for you.” she hissed, anger directed at the box as she growled, ears folded back against her hood, “I got it. I went back and got it.” 

Reverently, he held it, looking over the wood carefully. The thing Fjord nearly killed him for, a spell that had to be powerful locked away so carefully, safely in his hands. He looked at her, “Does anyone know?” he asked carefully. 

“No.” The anger had left her, the word holding a smug lilt to it that she had managed to steal under their noses. The satisfaction in her body language coming through in her shoulders dropping and ears relaxing. He had to admit, it was quite a feat. 

Caleb set the box down on the ground gently as he pulled Nott closer to him, kissing her forehead, “Thank you.” he said softly. 

She studied him for a second before she smiled, pleased and previous annoyance seemingly forgotten, “ ****Thank you for saving me tonight. You brought me back from the dead. Oh. I think you used a potion on me, didn't you?” she tilted her head when she asked, luckily foggy on most of the details of her predicament if not all like he was.

He nodded, “Yeah.” 

She reached into her cloak, pulling out one of her own healing potions, “Here, take one of mine. I have two, it's okay.” she promised. 

“You are too kind to me.” Caleb said quietly, unable to help his voice faltering on the emotion he felt from the words, taking the offered potion. 

The smile she had was one he couldn’t place, eyes warm and sparkling, “Of course. You keep me safe.” she said gently, voice quiet and genuine. 

Looking down for a moment, Caleb steeled himself for his next words and met her gaze, “Well, you know, I think maybe you have guessed it, before now, but I care a great deal for you, and that is no small gift. Thank you.”

Nott nodded, smiling, “Thank you. We lived, huh?” her voice wavered a bit at the end, from relief or surprise Caleb couldn’t tell. 

He agreed regardless, “Another day.” he glanced at the case in his hands, then back up at her as he decided to voice a sudden suspicion, that really was safe to think of considering where the damn thing came from, “You know a little bit of me is worried that this scroll case will explode, so I think we should check that out first.” he suggested lightly. 

She nodded immediately, before she rolled her eyes and pulled some other items out of her cloak she’d seemingly forgot about, sounding put out, “The folks upstairs gave me some more things for you to check out as well. Are these things you can do?” 

The items weren’t as important as the scroll to him at the moment, but Caleb could very well check them as well, “Yeah, okay. I can get this done in about an hour, I think. First, Nott will you take the scroll case and put it on the other side of the room?” he didn’t even look at the other things again as he handed her back the case, solely focused on it instead. 

“Okay.” She went to the other end of the room, the corner opposite the skeleton, and placed it down as he ritually cast the Identify spell. She stood beside him as he finished, finding the case was just a normal case, but did have a faint magical element put on it. 

Like he suspected then. 

Lacking the necessary spell energy, he took another ten minutes to ritually summon his unseen servant Schmidt and stood up quickly, “Come with me outside, Okay?” he said immediately, looking to Nott. 

Confused and unable to see Schmidt, she nodded again, trusting his judgement without asking, “All right.” she agreed

He pointed to the case, looking at where he had summoned the magical construct, “Okay. Schmidt, go open the scroll case. Come on!” the last bit was directed to his companion as they both exited the room, with him quickly shutting the door as soon as they exited. 

After a few seconds, his suspicions were confirmed when they both heard a quiet booming sound from inside, undoubtedly loud enough for the others in the tavern to hear, and enough he felt the magic from the servant dissipate and leave the room empty. “That is what I was afraid of.” 

Nott looked startled, “Oh shit!” she exclaimed, looking around quickly just in case the sound had managed to bring anyone out. Luckily it seemed it didn’t, the streets remaining mercifully empty of angry people wanting to punish them. 

He moved closer to the door, beckoning Nott to not follow, “Back up a little bit.” he advised, waiting a moment for her to comply before he opened the door, backing up immediately himself when a purplish dark fume wafted out near his face. 

It dissipated after thirty seconds, and Caleb checked the streets during that time, but no one seemed to notice the smoke as it rose, dissipating before it reached the roof to be a smoke beacon. It’s gone enough that it doesn’t create any visible darkness as far as Caleb can tell, though the small bit that reaches his nose as a metallic smell to it that open his sinuses abruptly and make him cough.

Once it cleared out, he headed back inside, Nott at his heels, Schmidt gone but the scroll case noticeably open. He gathered the other items as he sat in front of the case, performing the same ritual as before to Detect Magic on everything, ignoring the dodecahedron in his satchel. 

Nott watched, “Was there anything in the box?”

He hadn’t looked, but he knew there was, otherwise there wouldn’t have been such a trap, “Well, we're about to find out.”

He tipped the case closer, an aura of magic emanated from the two scrolls, not one, that were placed inside. The longsword and the boots emanated a magical aura as well, and while he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t help but get distracted by the vibrancy of the magical source that came from the crystal dodecahedron hidden in his satchel. The daggers 

Caleb rearranged the satchel so it was behind him, ignoring the object for the moment, and read the scrolls Nott had stolen first, the gasp immediate as he realized it was something he had been searching for for awhile. Something powerful and good that had alluded him for so long until now. He looked up at Nott, who watched him curiously and had no clue as to what she had just given him, and waved her closer, “Come here, come here!” 

She obeyed immediately, sounding as excited as he felt, “What did we get?” she asked, as he swept her up onto his lap to hug her tight to him, “What did we get, what did we get?” she repeated, bouncing on her heels, more excited once he let her back off his lap. 

He looked her in the face, eye level with her as he leaned closer, letting excitement in his voice, “This will be good for the group, this will be good for you and me, this is good. It's something that I was not able to do. I've been trying to figure it out for months and I have not been able to figure it out and now I have it!” he exclaimed, smacking the stone floor.

"Yes!” she cheered, looking extremely pleased. 

He put the scrolls away in his coat, with the mental note to hide them in his spell book for later, and looked at the other things he had been brought, “Okay, let's look at these things for everybody else. Okay. Ho, ho, ho, let's Identify all this shit!” he said, sifting through the things he had already identified, picking them up for a closer read on them. 

Nott handed him the mundane daggers, as he checked the boots, “Beau might like these. These are good. Yeah, these are good. Okay, so. All right, we'll put these away.” he said, putting them to the side, scattered focus on the long-sword, “This is a very good blade. This might be a good blade for you. Why don't you hold on to it? You hold onto that.” he said, slightly frazzled and distracted, confusing the sword for the daggers somehow. 

He realized his mistake after a few seconds of staring at the non-magical daggers and looked up to Nott, holding the long-sword upright as she stared at it, the whole thing longer than she was tall, “Oh. Let me see. I thought that was the daggers.” he gave her the daggers back as she handed him the long-sword back, looking at the magical makeup of it as he looked at it’s length, “No, this is bigger than you.” he muttered. 

She nodded in agreement, amused, “Too big for me. I know my limits.” she singsonged. 

The boots and long-sword were replaced back on the floor together, while Caleb considered their usefulness, “Fjord or Molly would like this. They can decide. They can decide. I mean really, these boots are good for anybody. These are good for-- yeah.” he finished, magic done and over with, all the items figured out and ready to hand over to whoever wanted it tomorrow. 

Nott sighed, looking pleased as he finished figuring out what everything was and who could possibly benefit from the shit, looking around the room they were to stay for the night, “Well, should we go to sleep?”

"Oh, boy.” He said, unsure how to answer with how much has happened in such a short time that he couldn’t possibly sleep after such good luck.

“Oh, here's your 19 platinum, and your two gold, and one extra platinum for some reason, as if that were supposed to smooth things over.” She handed the money over and rolled her eyes, somehow making it look as sarcastic as her words, and looked to remember something, “Oh, and also, they don't trust us, they think we need to cooperate more, they're trying--They are very upset--They were very upset that we tried to take the scroll box.” she stuttered, ears twitching as she finished the explanation, clearly agitated again. 

Caleb frowned, “Why?” as far as he knew, they shouldn’t have had such an issue with it. They had succeeded in the mission, after all. 

She tilted her head towards him, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes with her hands clasped in front of her, “Because they are in the firm belief that it would have left some sort of clue that would have led the authorities to us by stealing something, after we had broken into two houses, stolen other things, torn up a rug--” she started, voice gentle and hesitant before getting louder and more mocking as she went. 

He interrupted, nodding as he played along with where she was headed, “That is the red flag. Not the arcane rug that was destroyed and removed, covering his precious things. Not Jester disguising herself as the High-Richter.” 

"Not stealing the seal.” She listed. 

He counted on his fingers as he supplied, “And leaving witnesses who had seen someone who was not the Richter going in before the Richter--”

Nott nodded, smiling, obviously enjoying the joke both of them were playing with each other, “Sure. Also, she was dressed as the Richter not wearing the correct outfit.”

“Yeah. Ulog rifled through her desk and took some papers from there, but I did not see Fjord tear him a new asshole.” Caleb griped, genuine annoyance pervading the last part of his sentence.

The nod he got in return was more subdued as Nott became more serious, seemingly finished with mocking them for now, “Sure. But they are under the impression that, and this a fair point, that we are not very communicative or... We don't behave as much as part of a team as they would prefer. I said that I would tell you and discuss. And so, that's where it stands with the  _weirdos_.” she said, twitching her head in the direction of the door, rolling her eyes again at the last word.

Caleb sighed, being with the group was difficult and not like he imagined, but, “Well, you know, I want this to work. So whatever they need. I definitely do not agree, but whatever makes it work.” he needed it to work, for his and Nott’s sake.

She held up her hands to mime stepping back as she spoke, “I think what would make it work is letting them take the lead a bit, and following.”

Caleb smiled slightly at the suggestion, “Well I have no interest in being a leader, do you?” 

She laughed quietly, amused at the idea, “Oh no, not at all.” she said, shaking her head slightly.

"No.” He agreed. 

Nott shrugged, “But we can just see how it goes, playing ball, I suppose.”

It was unprompted, and out of nowhere, but Fjord’s interest had brought it to his mind and made him want to talk about it, at least confide a bit in his little friend as to a little of his past, “Do you know that I was going to go to that school one day?” he said, conspiratorially. 

Nott’s ears perked up at the new topic, confused, “The Soltryce Academy thing?” 

Nodding, Caleb said, “Yeah. Didn't work out.”

She looked intent and focused, voice low and hesitant, “What? You didn't get in?”

The small lie was easy to tell, though it had enough truth to it for Caleb’s liking, she deserved this much after so long together, “Oh, I didn't get anywhere near it. I'm from a small town, and there was a lot of hubbub for me, and maybe, you know, gathering up of coin. But I fucked it up.” he laughed, a quick dry thing. 

“Did you do something wrong? Or bad?” Nott asked, rightfully curious after the two never pried into each others shit before, but Caleb was pleased to note she’d given him an out, or at least the allowance to be vague. 

It didn’t make it hurt less to think about, what little truth he had told, “Yeah.” he whispered. 

Nott’s hand was on his arm, looking at him carefully, eyes worried and careful, “You don't have to tell me what it was, or what you did, but is it something that you can be forgiven for?” she sounded hopeful, like she might be able to get that for him the same way she stole the scrolls. It wasn’t likely, and he really wanted to steer out of this moment.

He cleared his throat instead of give her an answer, sitting up properly as she dropped her hand from his person, “That is not for me to say. But I have no interest in going. I will do it on my own.” he turned to her, holding his hands flat together in front of his face, eyes intent on her so she will know his intent, “Correction: I will learn with your help.” he stated.

Her face brightened, eyes wide, “Our own academy?”

He nodded, “That's the idea.  _Ja_.”

She thought about it before she nodded back, “All right. It'll take a little longer, probably. I'm not a good teacher.” she sounded apologetic, face screwed into an expression of distaste towards that probably unfortunate fact for her. 

It didn’t matter though, Caleb knew the both of them would learn and help each other regardless, “Yeah, well, you know anything worth going after takes some elbow grease and hard work.”

Nott luckily seemed to agree with that sentiment, as she nodded, resolve in her eyes hardened, “All right, well. I'll help wherever I can. I do enjoy seeing you get new spells and new skills.” 

The smile he had was genuine, “I haven't had a friend in a very long time. The last few months have been unexpected.” He admitted, chuckling slightly.

She nodded, solemn, “I think for me, too. I've had more people throw rocks at me than conversations, and it's nice. You know what, it's nice with them, too. They don't seem to mind that, you know, my teeth are a little-- People find that off-putting, sometimes.” she admitted, looking away as she nervously fiddled with her mask.”

“I do not mind.” Caleb said honestly, she was his friend and he didn’t care about any of that, gently getting her attention back as he leaned forward again, “And I'll tell you another secret. I like them, too. I get that they're angry. I don't agree with them. But I get it.”

"Well, they're not as smart as you are.” Nott said immediately. 

He leaned forward, “Or you, I would argue.” 

Her ears relaxed further, contented by his praise, eyes seeming heavy and half closed in drowsiness, “That's nice.” 

He looked at his satchel and sighed as he pulled it back onto his lap, “Well, you want to bed down with the terrifying artifact of awesome power?”

She looked at it, and shook her head slowly, “I prefer the skeleton, actually.” she admitted.

He blinked, surprised, “Okay.”

“I'll go on that side of the room.” Nott said awkwardly, heading over to where the skeleton was hidden and away from the object that clearly scared her. 

He watched her as she lied down beside the bones, bewildered but not going to argue, “Okay.” he repeated, getting comfortable where he sat with the thing for the remainder of the night, 

“Night, Nott.” he whispered gently.

Her head lifted, “Night, Caleb.” she whispered back, falling asleep immediately after, with Caleb not far behind. 


End file.
